Gov. Jan Brewer announced members of a new state panel that will help steer the future of state-funded medical education in the Arizona, following a high-profile spat over who should have more control over UA Healthcare.
The panel is supposed to help bring some resolution to an ongoing discussion about how best to structure the relationship between the $1.2 billion nonprofit and the medical school.
The fight has been characterized as a difference of vision, with some pressing for a hospital that focuses more heavily on research while others see a more community-based role, although it essentially boiled down to how much say the Arizona Board of Regents would have in running the system.
It became more heated when the regents voted to shrink the size of the UA Healthcare board, which operates two local hospitals, a doctors' group and the UA College of Medicine.
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Brewer in April vetoed a legislative move to strip the regents of their oversight of UA Healthcare, which was created last July when University Medical Center Corp. merged with University Physicians Healthcare.
She also announced in April that she would set up a task force to study the best model for the entity.
The task force, made up predominantly of Tucsonans, will be led by Richard Silverman, Salt River Project general manager and an alumnus of the University of Arizona.
The vice chairman will be Rick Myers, a regents member. Also serving will be Betsy Bayless, the former secretary of state who runs Maricopa Integrated Health System; Steve Goldschmid, the dean of the UA College of Medicine; Joe Higgins, a businessman and radio personality; Chris Monson, a member of the Southern Arizona Leadership Council; and Granger Vinall, the chairman of UA Healthcare.
Saying she hopes to see the medical entity play a larger role in regional economic development, Brewer also asked five others to serve as nonvoting members. Among them: local business leaders Ron Shoopman and Joe Snell, as well as Patrick Soon- Shiong, a biosciences billionaire who urged the governor to veto the bill, saying it would delay economic development efforts in medical research and innovation.
In a statement, Brewer called the system an "important community resource" and said a strong collaboration among the entities can lead to more federal research dollars and better health-care delivery.
Myers was out of the country and unavailable for immediate comment, but said in a statement that he looks forward to finding the best path forward. "Creating a modern approach and strong foundation for outstanding medical education, research and patient care is what the citizens of our state expect and deserve," he said.
Higgins, a University of Arizona alumnus who is familiar with the issues of uncompensated medical care through his work with the Catholic Community Services Foundation, said he isn't coming into the panel with any set agenda, but will seek out facts to see if changes are warranted.
"I know how critical it is to have a strong university system and a strong medical program, and I just want to make sure we're getting the best from this community asset," he said.
Vinall said his board has hired an outside consultant to review its own structure, which could be completed by early August.
The system is a statewide asset, he said.
"It's important that when it's being governed, that it's being governed with a very focused mission, with a very broad customer base to make sure competing demands don't get blurred."
They characterized the board of directors as a "very strong group of people."
"Can some changes be made? I think that's what the task force's charge is - to figure out if there's a better way."
Contact reporter Rhonda Bodfield at rbodfield@azstarnet.com or 573-4243.
